Stories of daring, stories of technological feats, stories of prevailing against the odds ... these are the stories we tell at the National Air and Space Museum. Dive in to the stories below to discover, learn, and be inspired. 

Showing 281 - 290 of 1735

September 09, 2022 The Military Gets Its Wings Story

Today we cannot imagine war without the airplane, but there was a time when the airplane's military potential was not yet apparent.

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September 09, 2022 The Roar of the Crowd Story

The first air races, meets, and flight exhibitions kicked off a wave of public enthusiasm for aviation that circled the globe.

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September 08, 2022 AirSpace Season 6, Ep. 9: How Do You Sleep? Story | AirSpace Podcast

Sleeping in space goes back almost as far as there have been people in space (specifically, a cosmonaut who caught some shuteye in 1961). Astronauts have slept in capsules, shuttles, space stations, and even on the Moon. Sleep is an important part of an astronaut’s health, particularly for longer duration missions. But from noisy crewmates to spaceship sounds and even the sheer excitement of it all, sleeping in space hasn’t always been easy. To find out what it’s really like we speak with former astronaut Mike Massimino who relates his shuttle sleeping experience to a big slumber party.  We’re catching Zs in zero-G, today on AirSpace.

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September 06, 2022 A HawkEye 360 Pathfinder Satellite Joins Our Collection Story

Our Museum recently acquired a first-generation HawkEye 360 Pathfinder satellite. The three Pathfinders and follow-on satellites form the first commercial satellite constellation ever to detect, characterize, and geolocate a broad range of radio frequency signals from transmitters on the ground and sea.

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August 26, 2022 Conservation Treatment and the Story Behind a Model Benoist No. 43 Aircraft Story

A 1/16 scale model of a Benoist XIV Airboat (Benoist No. 43) recently underwent conservation treatment in preparation for its display in the reimagined America by Air gallery. Learn about how it was treated and discover the story behind the model and the actual aircraft.

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August 25, 2022 Take a Trip on the Boeing 247 Story

Read a first-hand account of what it was like to fly aboard a Boeing 247 in 1934.

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August 25, 2022 AirSpace Season 6, Ep. 8: Let It Grow Story | AirSpace Podcast

In 1971 an Apollo 14 astronaut took about 500 tree seeds into orbit around the Moon. When he got back, those seeds were distributed, germinated, and planted all around the United States. And then… they were mostly forgotten about, even by NASA. That is, until the mid-1990s when a teacher at a Girl Scout camp in Indiana wondered what was up with this “Moon Tree” at her local camp. On this episode, we speak with the NASA planetary scientist who received her question, and as a result, started a database to track down the Moon Tree locations. Today, there are 67 known, living, first generation Moon Trees all over the United States – maybe even in your town!

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August 23, 2022 By Air or Rail? Why Not Both! Story

In 1929, Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) started passenger service between New York and Los Angeles using a combination of trains and planes.

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August 12, 2022 Seeing Earth Through Astronaut Eyes Story

Curator Jennier Levasseur explores how astronauts have looked down at Earth during missions ranging from Apollo to the International Space Station expeditions.

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August 11, 2022 AirSpace Season 6, Ep. 7: Look at the Sky Story | AirSpace Podcast

Skywriting is something you might witness at the beach, or a sporting event, or an outdoor concert. A popular form of aerial advertising and even the occasional marriage proposal, skywritten messages can have a BIG impact (and with letters approximately 1500 feet tall… we mean that quite literally).  But maybe you didn’t know that it originated with the military and dates wayyy back to the early days of aviation in 1910. This episode will be your exhaustive look into everything you’d want to know about skywriting – how it works, who does it, the most popular examples, and even its code of conduct. And to learn all about it, we speak to a skywriting pilot whose family has been in the business since nearly the beginning.

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